Fishing 4 Compliments, a 5-piece indie-folk-pop band from Huddersfield has brought out their latest offering, having already released two singles off the album “Ghosts” and “Hard to Please” earlier this year.
A ten-track album offering a variety of sounds and feelings – with artwork depicting a pop-art esque blotted version of who I believe to be the band!
The first track is the already-released “Hard to Please”, and it offers a happy-pop feel with some cracking backing tracking and a generally pleasant feel, with Eileen’s vocals standing out with her melodic voice, it all flowed together beautifully, without it being too much, which I feel can be a challenge with an album opener, a lovely listen.
“Empty Eyes” follows and it’s fair to say this track is slightly more melancholic, offering a slightly rockier and darker side to Fishing 4 Compliments, which in all honesty I didn’t expect, it’s by no means heavy, but compared to the first track, it was a drastic contrast and shows what the band can do in regards to mood and tempo.
The lyrics are a bit darker too, singing about the emptiness, darker moments and feelings, to see this side of them was interesting, and whilst a bit darker, it did flow incredibly well.
“Ghosts” – the other track already released was next and a similiar feel of “Empty Eyes” was the original opener, but it soon picked up the pace and a more folk-like style kicked in for the backing track, with some excellent backing vocals to match.
Whilst I’m only three tracks in, I’m already seeing a real versatility to the band, mixing simple elements to craft something brilliant, it’s an incredibly easy listen and something I imagine that you would hear in a beer garden in Summer, whilst supping on your beverage of choice and feeling very chilled out, it’s a good feeling.
“If I had” is next and it starts with a bit more drum and snare before a brilliant guitar solo, definitely more folky again, but Fishing 4 Compliments have a knack for creating brilliant hooks, the vocals were more elevated in this track and definitely took centre-stage, which was nice to hear.
It was an easy listen, something you can have during a heavy listening session or just in the background whilst you do your housework, it’s a lovely track.
“Secret Room” is next and we’re now halfway through the album, it’s another vocal focused track, more acoustic and I think this style suits the band really well, whilst the lyrics talk about love and dreams, among other things, it’s a softly-sung, easy track with a powerful backing track, which is what I think acoustic can do when done correctly, this is the perfect example.
“Making Millions” follows and it’s a bit more pop-like, another great hook, this is what I imagine a more acoustic version of Florence and the Machine would sound like (probably better in all honesty), it’s uplifting, the perfect mix of pop and folk and is a genuinely brilliant listen – it’s also very fun!
“Feeling Lucky” is next and we’re slowly reaching the latter of the album.
Whilst this starts off very pop-ish, it does slow down into quite a whimsical, fun track and honestly, probably my favourite of the album, it brings together all of the best bits of Fishing 4 Compliments, giving incredible vocals (both main and backing), a catchy backing track and easy-to-pick up lyrics.
“Hand to Reach You” is next, and it’s immediately very eerie sounding at first, with a few indie guitar twangs, it does take a little bit of time to get going this one, and if I’m honest, at first, the guitar and backing does overpower the vocals a little bit, not too much, but enough to be noticeable, this could be a lot more elevated if the vocals took more of a centre-stage.
Once it settles, it does get considerably better and makes it’s own path, the latter of the track is much better, consistent and builds on what they’re good at.
“Listen More” is the penultimate track and it is a very folky track, a happy upbeat flow and it’s a great listen, very fitting with the rest of the album, giving a fun feel, this track in partiuclar would do well as part of a montage on a film or netflix series, during a reunion scene, the lyrics “when we meet again” seem particularly fitting!
“How you Amaze Me” is the final track and it has another instant enchanting hook, the vocals are more instant, which works so much better! It does settle into a more melancholic track again, but it does have these happy hints injected in too, a lovely folk track that I imagine is even better live!
It’s a great end to the album and ties in everything Fishing 4 Compliments can do, sometimes a softer track to end an album is best.
Overall a fantastic album, produced by J & D Dunwell of The Dunwells, full of versatility, fun elements and they are genuinely talented musicians, I look forward to see what else Fishing 4 Compliments come up with.
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